Alastair Cook may be a more relaxed man, with the Test series won and his position as captain of the Test team cemented. But there are always challenges and the next one, with the World Cup on the horizon, relates to 50-over cricket.

Cook remains in charge. That is a decision that probably prompted more debate beyond the ECB hierarchy than within it.

They have invested in Cook and his leadership qualities even though he may not be the most natural of one-day cricketers. This was not the time to change tack.

At Bristol, on the eve of the first of five ODIs, Cook was able to give us an indication of how they are thinking. There will be one significant change as Cook revealed that Alex Hales, often so devastating in T20 cricket but who has never appeared for England in the 50-over format, will accompany him in a new and vividly contrasting opening partnership.

Cook may well benefit from a more dynamic opening partner. “I don’t think it changes my role,” he said. “The job of the top four or five is to try and score a hundred and win the game.

“You have to try and do it your way. What’s pleasing about Alex over the past month or so is that he’s scored four centuries for Nottinghamshire and at a good rate too. He’s a different batter to the other guys. He hits the ball incredibly hard, in different areas with an orthodox technique. He’s done really well in T20 cricket and he’s got the opportunity over these five games to show us what he can do over 50 overs.”

Who will give way for Hales remains a puzzle. But Cook indicated that it would not be his former opening partner, Ian Bell. “He will bat at three. So there is a different role for Ian to play. I have no doubts that he can do that and also if we want to change it back at the top of the order, we can. The partnership between Belly and me has been a good one over the last couple of years.”

India are more adept at this form of the game. Nevertheless England are bound to draw confidence from their recent comprehensive Test victories. “The dressing room is a far better place than it was three or four weeks ago. You only really get confidence from winning games of cricket. And for a lot of these guys that was their first series win. And I feel a bit more comfortable in my position but that is only natural.”

Cook remains a realist. He knows that after a couple of slow twenties in a losing cause he will be under the microscope again. “You’re never going to silence the critics,” he said. “That’s impossible. One bad result or one bad performance and everything changes. But what this season has shown me is that I am resilient and I have the skills to lead England. I have always said that. To come through the darkest times of this summer, I can be very proud of that.”

So the England camp embarks upon these ODIs in an unusually tranquil mood. MS Dhoni is always a picture of tranquillity whatever is going on around him and in the build-up to these games quite a lot has happened nearby to him.

Suddenly he is surrounded by fresh coaches as well as Ravi Shastri, who has long since worked for the BCCI but generally with a microphone in his hand. Now Shastri oversees the team and one can only presume that this was not Duncan Fletcher’s idea.

Dhoni did his best to support both men at Bristol. “Ravi is here to overlook the operations,” he said. “It’s good to have him; the reason being he is a very proud India cricketer and at the same time he is very positive.”

However, Dhoni was also equally keen to support Fletcher.

“Definitely he will lead us into World Cup. We have Ravi who will look into everything, but Duncan Fletcher is the boss. It is not as if his powers or his position have been curtailed.”

So even at the back end of a long season and with the World Cup looming, there is plenty to play for alongside the leadership conundrums. Sadly, it may be too wet at Bristol for the first match to tell us much.